About TARTLE

Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE located in Užupis district in Vilnius provides an opportunity to get acquainted with Lithuanian art treasures and historical artefacts from cultural heritage of the pagan times to the contemporary art. The target of the collection and the art centre is not only to collect and bring back to homeland the Lithuanian cultural and historical heritage scattered all over the world, but also – what is most important – to make it available to the general public and introduce Lithuania’s history through art. The founders of the Lithuanian Art Centre: the Lithuanian Art Foundation (public entity) and collector Rolandas Valiūnas.

The centre is unique as it provides the possibility to get acquainted with Lithuania’s history through art, i.e. by seeing in person original art exhibits from different time periods. Among them is the biggest private collection of medals and sculptures by Petras Rimša; a unique folk art collection; the only in Lithuania such large-scale collection of GDL maps; little-known albums by Franciszek Smuglewicz published in Rome; a collection of Lithuanian books of almost 2 thousand specimens; impressive graphic art collections by Kazimierz Wilczyński and Napoleon Orda; a full collection of inter-war Lithuania’s stamps; silverware by Vilnius masters, such as a unique watch by the most famous watchmaker of the 17th century in Vilnius, Jacob Gierke; the biggest sculpture in Lithuania by Jacques Lipschitz; a collection of works by the inter-war Vilnius artists, and many other valuable exhibits.

The Lithuanian Art Foundation (the Foundation), a public enterprise established in 2013, is the manager of the Foundation’s, the Ellex Valiunas Art Support Foundation’s, the law firm’s Ellex Valiunas, and Rolandas Valiūnas’s, attorney-at-law, art collections.

The Foundation has accumulated a collection of Lithuanian art that is very important to Lithuanian society. The distinctive features of this collection are its orientation towards works of art exclusively related to Lithuanian history, thematic variety, and scale. At the moment the collection consists of approximately 1,000 paintings, over 360 sculptures, over 490 maps, over 1,100 pieces of historic graphic art (the oldest pieces in the collection date back to the 15th century), and over 2,000 lithuanistic books and other publications published before 1905. The collection also has Lithuanian medals, silver coins, and other artefacts (ancient Lithuanian armour, guns, money, jewellery, etc.). There are over 7,000 exhibits in the collection, and the majority are objects of Lithuanian heritage collected from all over the world.

The main aims of the Foundation are to establish an art museum for the storage of the collection and to collect, restore, examine and exhibit pieces of art and art collections related to Lithuania; organise exhibitions; publish albums of art; encourage, support and popularize museums, painters, and other artists and subjects related to the fine arts and other forms of art; encourage society’s interest in arts; support and encourage initiatives that contribute to the popularisation of art; and receive and provide charity and support.

About Lithuanian Art Foundation

The Lithuanian Art Foundation (the Foundation), a public enterprise established in 2013, is the manager of the Foundation’s, the Ellex Valiunas Art Support Foundation’s, the law firm’s Ellex Valiunas, and Rolandas Valiūnas’s, attorney-at-law, art collections.

The Foundation has accumulated a collection of Lithuanian art that is very important to Lithuanian society. The distinctive features of this collection are its orientation towards works of art exclusively related to Lithuanian history, thematic variety, and scale. At the moment the collection consists of approximately 1,000 paintings, over 360 sculptures, over 490 maps, over 1,100 pieces of historic graphic art (the oldest pieces in the collection date back to the 15th century), and over 2,000 lithuanistic books and other publications published before 1905. The collection also has Lithuanian medals, silver coins, and other artefacts (ancient Lithuanian armour, guns, money, jewellery, etc.). There are over 7,000 exhibits in the collection, and the majority are objects of Lithuanian heritage collected from all over the world.

The main aims of the Foundation are to establish an art museum for the storage of the collection and to collect, restore, examine and exhibit pieces of art and art collections related to Lithuania; organise exhibitions; publish albums of art; encourage, support and popularize museums, painters, and other artists and subjects related to the fine arts and other forms of art; encourage society’s interest in arts; support and encourage initiatives that contribute to the popularisation of art; and receive and provide charity and support.